Weekly Wrap Up | 6/14/26

Aloha friends!

I am BACK.

+ I was supposed to fly with my son, daughter and parents to the Philippines but the night before the flight my son came down with a bad cold. I thought okay…it’s just a cold, but then he was throwing up all night, and I couldn’t sleep worrying about him and knew I had to make a decision in the morning. My parents paid for this trip, so I couldn’t back all three of us out. Morning comes and my son has a fever so at least I had packed his bag separately the night before in case he wasn’t going to come. I was SO bummed, sad for him (he was sad) and me…but at least my hubby was already staying back to watch the dog – so I had to let go of my anxiety and prepare my daughter and I for the Philippines.

+ We landed in Manila after almost 11 hours and had to take a connecting flight to Laoag which is in the northern Philippines. It was hot, 91 degrees at night. At least the second flight was only 45 minutes. From there we were met with so much family and headed to the apartment we were renting out. For about 10 days we were in Laoag hanging out with so much family. I cannot understand or speak Tagalog (their national language), but in the north they speak Ilocano which I can understand but barely speak. It was HOT for most of the days but a week later we had nights of monsoon type rain, lightning and thunder! And some days there were scheduled power outages 🥵, but honestly it was just fun being with so much family. We went to Pagudpud, which is almost at the northern coast of the Philippines – gorgeous landscapes.

+ After time with family my cousins drove us down to Manila (an 8 hour drive). I was the one who wanted to spend some time in Manila but honestly once I was there, I was missing the cleaner air of the countryside! My mom and daughter caught something – my mom had a cold, my daughter I think was allergies because the air is so hazy in the city. And it was just so packed with people, I was trying not to get sick.

+ We didn’t realize another cousin of mine was visiting the Philippines also, so we visited her and she was about an hour outside of Manila in Laguna but she made us follow her to Tagaytay for lunch. There were gorgeous views from higher elevation – but it was traffic on those 2 lane roads. We then met more family who was in Manila! 😅

+ The day before our flight we planned to do a buffet lunch at the Okada which is basically like the Bellagio – they even have a fountain show! While we were exploring the resort my cousin said her son could get us an executive suite there for a really cheap price. She basically pressured my parents into doing it – but I wanted to do this before the trip even happened but I was overruled. Well they couldn’t overrule her haha, or felt bad doing it so we got to stay a night at the fancy hotel, which was lovely.

+ I was fine for the whole trip with some sinus issues here and there but of course, the hours right before the flight, my nose starts to drip and my throat starts to itch! I blame all the smoking in the casino at the resort. 😩. I felt like crap on the plane but it’s not like I haven’t been sick on a plane before. Thank god my daughter slept through almost the whole flight – she got to lay down since her brother’s seat was empty! But we made it back!

+ I’ve kinda been jet lagged, plus had to get over the cough which only lasted 2 nights – so it was definitely allergies. Now I’m catching up on my blog and social media accounts – I’ve been making a few mistakes here and there but I’m blaming the jet lag!!

Blog Posts:

Books with Handwriting on the Cover | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 6/9/26
New Book Releases This Week | 6/9/26
WWW Wednesday | 6/10/26
Black River by. Ruby Jean Cottle | ARC Review – 3 stars
Dhampira by. Amy Pennza | ARC Review – 3.5 stars / 4🌶️
Shadow Reaper by. Lynette Noni | ARC Review – 3 stars

Books I Finished

Beneath by. Ariel Sullivan
The Winged Game by. Sophie Kim
Deviant King by. Rina Kent
Caged by Fallen Crows: Part Two by. Ava Larksen
Blood Bound by. Ellis Hunter
Black River by. Ruby Jean Cottle
The Secret World of Briar Rose by. Cindy Pham

Currently Reading:

The False Vow by. Lydia Gregovi
You Won’t Forget Me by. Mazey Eddings
Light Wielder by. Rachel Schneider

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

+ Every Year After (Prime Video) – I’m watching this one but it’s kind of slow so I stopped at episode 3. Will continue when I have more time.

+ Olivia Rodrigo – You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love – this album is AMAZING. It’s on REPEAT and I need to get tickets to her tour. 😩 I need to hear it live and sing my heart out. I love EVERY song!!! My daughter who is 9 has loved her since GUTS (how did a 6 year old love All American Bitch? LOL…I don’t know but I think it’s the screaming she loves), I loved her since SOUR, my son also became more of a fan from GUTS. So yeah I need tickets…🙏🏽

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

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Beneath by. Ariel Sullivan | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Fury Bound (Rebirth, #0)

Author: Ariel Sullivan

Pages: 464

Format: ebook (borrowed)

Publication Date: 3/24/26

Categories: Dystopian, Romance, Series

Hundreds of years before the Illum ruled supreme, humanity risked everything to rebuild after a devastating war in this explosive dystopian romance and prequel to Conform.

Twenty-three-year-old Sasha Cadell knows time is running out in the underground city, filled with survivors of the nuclear fallout six years ago. She works in the Expansion Sector, trying to escape the memories of those she lost. Her bleak existence is upended when Tristian Hayes, a stunningly handsome, frustratingly determined commander of the Force, recruits her to join him and his elite team of soldiers as they embark on a secret mission to the surface.

Sasha is thrust into brutal training with stakes far beyond mere survival. The fate of the remaining humankind depends on their success—or failure. As she confronts her own demons, Sasha finds both allies and foes in the training program, as well as a sizzling attraction between her and Tristian that threatens the walls she’s built around her heart.

But under the surface, secrets and deception run as rampant as illnesses. And not everyone will survive the rise of a power more terrifying than anything they’ve ever known.

Content Warning: violence, death

World Building: The world has been ruined and destroyed by war and radiation so the survivors created a city underground but resources are running out. Time is ticking on Haven and Tristian Hates and his Force is going on missions above to try to find resources – but he wants Sasha on his team to help them survive the missions.

Characters: Sasha has gone through tremendous trauma and loss. Now she’s called Death’s Angel because she was the one who always stayed by people’s bedside when they died or survived. She was at Tristian’s bedside too and now he wants her on his team as a medic to help them out. But Sasha doesn’t want to join a team, doesn’t want to get close to people because if you start to care, it hurts to lose them. Sasha is not as cold as everyone things though and Tristian is the hope for Haven. Tristian’s team is full of different characters and I got invested in all of them – they all have trauma but they fight for Haven. The found family trope in this story is a strong focused and I loved it.

Romance: Tristian falls first, for sure, but Sasha has trauma and is not someone who wants to get close to anyone. So theirs is a very slow burn, with some spice, but I felt for both of them. I wanted Tristian to break down her walls, but I also could sympathize with why Sasha kept her walls up. He’s a good guy and she had so much self-loathing she felt like she didn’t deserve someone good. I was definitely happy when they found some time together that made them escape the danger of their world for a little bit, but hope for an amazing love story for them.

Story: I love the setting and high stakes of this story – there was so much tension from start to finish and a sense of foreboding. I was emotionally invested in Sasha’s story but also the stories of Tristian’s teammates. It felt like there was no hope for Haven but Tristian’s faith in the mission really held his team together and even made Sasha believe for a little bit. I love Sasha’s journey – her grief was such a deep darkness she had to learn to climb out of, I just wanted to give her a hug. There are a few twists in the story but the ending is a twist I wasn’t expecting and wonder if there will be a book after this one, because I am emotionally invested in these characters! I know it’s the prequel to Conform, which I haven’t read yet because I’m waiting for my Libby hold to become available – but I’d love a sequel for Beneath especially after that ending.

Final Thoughts:

I was emotionally invested in this book from start to finish because Sasha’s story of loss and grief struck me so hard. There was so much tension and then Tristian’s faith in humanity was so hopeful. This story took me on an unexpected emotional journey and I want more!

Read if you like:

dystopian
journey through grief
found family

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

WWW Wednesday | 6/10/26

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

I am back from my 2 week trip in the Philippines, and what a wild trip it was! It started off with my son being sick with a bad cold and fever the day of the flight to Philippines so I had to make a stressful decision and leave him behind with his dad (who couldn’t take off from work anyway?). So yeah…I was stressed and then trusted my hubby could handle things. Anyway I’m back – I did manage to read 3 books while on vacay and I’m still working on another one.

What are you currently reading?

The False Vow by. Lydia Gregovic – (alc) 12%

Blood Bound by. Ellis Hunter – 64%

You Won’t Forget Me by. Mazey Eddings – (alc) 21%

What have you just finished reading?

Black River by. Ruby Jean Cottle – (arc) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Winged Game by. Sophie Kim – (arc) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/🌶️

Beneath by. Ariel Sullivan – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/🌶️🌶️

What are you going to read next?

Witch Season by. Julia Blanco

Caged by Fallen Crows: Part Two by. Ava Larksen

Dominion by. Jean Kwok

Light Wielder by. Rachel Schneider

Glow of the Everflame by. Penn Cole

Our Perfect Storm by. Carley Fortune

The Tempest Bride by. Danielle L. Jensen

What are YOU reading right now?

Weekly Wrap Up | 5/24/26

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ Last weekend I was in Palo Alto, California to see BTS at Stanford Stadium. It was quite an experience! It was the first time for me flying into San Jose Airport and I like how small and not busy it was – not sure if that is usual, but it was such an easy place to fly into. Our hotel was a small vintage boutique hotel, built in 1924, called the Cardinal Hotel and it’s close by to the University. It’s vintage but renovated and I loved the room, even though it had no a/c – it did have a ceiling fan. I love how walkable it was – it is basically in Silicon Valley so it was interesting seeing Waymo driverless cars everywhere!

+ The concert was an experience! It’s my second stadium concert this year. This one being at a university stadium – there was a lot of walking involved since we didn’t rent a car. I had to pick up my pre-ordered army bomb light stick, which was easy, it’s for my daughter, since I was going to dance and take some video during the concert. We didn’t even try for merch. I was not about to stand all morning to try and get a shirt. 😅 We got to the stadium but I told my sister we didn’t need to stand in the lines, it will go down. Plus it was hot in the sun, and DUSTY – I didn’t anticipate the wind and it kicking up all the dry dirt around the stadium. So we stood in the shade across the street from the lines until the gates opened and the lines went down. My sister even got a chance to go to the merch lines to see what they had left…she got me a shirt that only had 2XL for sizes lol…I can sleep in it. We got in easy, found our seats and waited. What was fun about waiting is people passing out freebies. My sister made some freebies to pass out also.

+ BTS was amazing – my sister is ARMY, but my daughter and I are casual fans. Doesn’t matter, I was dancing my booty off and singing as best I could. I just love concerts in general, it’s my stress reliever. Expensive, I know! Also my bias (favorite) is Jungkook because his voice and that man is beautiful. I also love Jimin and Jin. So I was ecstatic that Jungkook came down the ramp on our side. 🥰 I saw lots of kids, families, elderly at the concert, which I thought was sweet!

+ I tried to post some videos but for some reason they are saying it’s “private” on wordpress. 🤷🏻‍♀️. So here are a few pics of Jungkook and V. Anyway, a time was had. I was EXHAUSTED after the walk back to the hotel, plus why was the street cleaning vehicle out in full force on our hotel street at 11:30PM?! Like…why?!…so I slept I think around 12:30am, a very restless sleep because my body/legs were aching, and I was winding down from the concert. We needed to get up at 5am to catch our flight, once again so happy there was no traffic and it was a Monday, airport was small and quiet – easy to get through. And I knocked out on the plane.

Here are some of the freebies we got at the concert from ARMY – they are so sweet and creative! Like, the time and energy to make these or buy them, pack it up, and carry them around then pass it out – I’m so grateful. Overall, it was a fun experience/concert – my sister hadn’t gone to a concert in 15 years…and now she’s even more addicted to BTS. I’m more addicted to Jung Kook after that concert 😅.

I told my daughter on the plane, I’m done with concerts this year but honestly I really want to go to Olivia Rodrigo. 😩 Me and my kids love her and I lost the Ticketmaster war for that one. But maybe that’s a good thing because I need to get my money back up after Bruno and BTS. 😅

+ My youngest nephew graduated from high school yesterday! We went to attend the ceremony and give him leis afterwards.

We are leaving for the Philippines on Tuesday, and will be gone for 2 weeks! Can’t wait to see family and do a trip where it’s not a concert, standing in lines, being with thousands of people, and buying expensive merch. 😂 So this will be our real vacation – time to relax, chill and see family! Can’t wait!